Cross-posted with bobad, who links a video with a little more explanation than what's left at MSNBC.

An important comment resulting from the study is, as some cat persons have admitted knowing, that cats don't like a bowl that makes their whiskers touch anything while eating or drinking. Most "kitty bowls" sold by pet outlets are far too deep and usually too small in diameter to please a cat, and may account for a significant number of "fussy eaters."

For their canned food, we use hard glazed ceramic "saucers" intended to hold your flower pots so the moisture doesn't leak out of the pot, about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Unglazed ones don't work well because cleaning them is about like removing the old concrete from used bricks.

It's entirely possible, if you have a cat that doesn't like drinking out of a bowl, that the bowl is just too small in diameter or that the water surface is too far down in the bowl. We use an "automatic dispensing" water dispenser, but it needs cleaning and fresh water more frequently than it actually runs low on water since the cats seem to like to dribble bits of "stuff" in it and then refuse to drink when the water gets nasty.

John